If you’ve taught the narrative writing process and now want to ensure that your students are also adequately prepared for the timed PARCC Narrative Writing Task, this post is for you.

Following is a 2-3 week lesson cycle that covers the basics of this genre of writing in a fun, creative way. I’ve included (italicized) hooks to offer a sense of direction and purpose. Note: These are ideas for mini-lessons/lessons, not complete lesson plans. You can use them flexibly with other course requirements.

PS: If you like these ideas and materials, please consider subscribing to The Literacy Cookbook Website, which offers more than a thousand documents to support interdisciplinary literacy instruction, particularly for grades 3-12. As a holiday bonus, I’m offering TLC Blog followers the secret code to sign up for TLC Website access at 50% off (which means it’s only $25 for a year). Click HEREand use TLCBOOK50 (Note: ALL CAPS). If you’d like to register a group at this rate, please Email me at sarahtantillo@literacycookbook.com

Day 1:

We’ve spent lots of time working on our narrative writing, and we have the fundamental elements down. Today we’re going to begin preparing for a slightly different type of narrative writing. The PARCC is different in that it is TIMED and it requires us to write not from complete scratch but based on a given story/passage.

Introduce the TLC Narrative Writing PRE-WRITING ORGANIZER, a tool that will help students map out information that they need to use in their story. It’s essentially three buckets: setting, characters, and plot.

Show students sample parcc-narrative-writing-prompts-12-4-16, and remind them that when they take the test, they should click forward to read the prompt before reading the passage so that they can extract useful information as they read.

The PARCC Narrative Writing Task requires students to read the given story and take one of two approaches: 1) Retell it from a different point of view, or 2) Extend it. We are going to address the “Retell it from a different point of view” approach first.

Day 2:

Before we write anything, we need to pre-write, digesting the story so that we have enough material to write our own story.

Practice back-mapping a story to the organizer (whole class, some partner but review as whole class).

Mimic the PARCC Narrative Writing prompt for your grade, customized to that story.

Make sure students have their own copy of the story as you read.

Collect their organizers so that they can use them on Day 5.

Day 3:

Let’s make sure we’re comfortable with pre-writing so that we can set our own stories up for success.

More practice with back-mapping a story to the organizer (whole class, some partner but review as whole class): “The Three Little Pigs” (or the story of your choice).

Day 4:

Today, we’ll see how much you’ve absorbed about pre-writing.

Read Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (or the story of your choice) together. Students fill in the organizer independently. Note: You may want to give them a blank sheet of paper to see how they do.

One of the PARCC Narrative Writing prompts asks us to retell the story from a different point of view. How do you write from a point of view? What are the key words you should look for? (point of view, perspective, retell)

Hand back their “Goldilocks” pre-writing from Day 2, for reference.

Model a partial retell of “Goldilocks” through a different point of view. Use a couple different voices (her mom, a real estate agent, Papa Bear, Goldilocks herself, the police, a social worker, her teacher, etc.). Give starter sentences from different perspectives. Note: The plot does not change even though the point of view changes.

Give choice of 3 different points of view (see above) and allow students to choose what point of view they want to write from. They can do this in pairs or trios as this is largely a brainstorming exercise and you want to monitor their thinking.

Students share their work.

Students select their favorite opening from today’s class work (even if it wasn’t their own) and finish writing the story from that point of view. As they are writing, make notes on what they need help with for tomorrow’s revising/editing mini-lesson.

HW: Students finish writing the story from that point of view.

Day 6:

Today we’re going to analyze what scholars wrote, highlight a few exemplars, and review several key writing points before we dive into revising and editing.

“Show call” some of the HW stories to highlight excellent work.

Deliver mini-lesson around anything you noticed yesterday that students need help with (e.g., formatting dialogue properly).

CONFERENCE with students as needed. Students type up revisions and hand in final draft for a grade. (PS, for students who need keyboarding skills support, check out http://www.play2pass.com)

Note: This set-up and lesson sequence gives you an opportunity to meet with students who were absent the day before and help them get caught up.

Day 7:

Today we’ll examine some PARCC-released student exemplars to see how PARCC scores these tasks.

Read the original text so they can see what students were writing about. Note that PARCC items from different years have been scored by different rubrics. Decide which rubric will be most user-friendly, and go with that. For more information about PARCC Writing Rubrics, check out these two TLC Blog posts:

If time permits, have students use the rubric to score (or peer-score) their writing from the day before.

Day 8:

We’ve been working on this task for 7 days. Let’s see where we are. Do your best, so I will know if anyone needs more help with this approach.

Give students a new prompt and passage with no organizer, just a blank sheet of paper and computer. Allow 60 minutes for this (without multiple-choice questions).

You should grade these over the next few days, using the same rubric you used when examining student exemplars yesterday.

Day 9:

As I mentioned when we first started working on this PARCC Narrative Writing Task, you might see the “retell it with a different point of view” prompt or the “extend the story” prompt. We’ve spent the past week or so on the first one. Now we’re going to tackle the second. If you were to continue the story, what are some things you’d want to think about?

Introduce extending the story: What are the key words you should look for? (continue, extend, predict, next). Analyze several examples of the prompt.

What strategies should we use to answer this prompt? Note: How is this type of prompt different from the POV-changing prompt? In this case, you need to know the POV first in order to extend the story. DO NOT CHANGE THE POV. You are EXTENDING THE PLOT.

MODEL this extend-the-story approach, using “Goldilocks” again so that students can see the difference in the different prompts. Maybe she goes home and lies to her mother about where she’s been and what she’s been up to; based on her behavior in the story, we can see that she lacks integrity.

Day 10:

Before you can EXTEND a story, you need to be able to recall the original plot, and you need to draw inferences about the main character so that you can predict how he or she might behave.

Read aloud a new fairytale. Have students retell it in their own words to solidify their understanding of the plot. Assign partner roles so that students work effectively. Partner A retells it to Partner B, then they switch.

Then have them analyze the main character using the TLC Characterization Methods-DDAT. Actions and dialogue tend to reveal character motivations that will be useful in the extended story.

NOTE: If students don’t understand the main character and the original plot, they will not able to EXTEND the original story properly. So you might need to pause and practice these steps with another story or two before you move forward.

Next, you might want to have students pair and brainstorm possible plot-extension points. What will the main character most likely do next, and why?

Show call exemplary student ideas. Make sure they explain why the character will act this way.

Students start their extended story (which can be based on the brainstormed ideas, or not). They will finish it for HW. Monitor their writing to identify potential topics for a revising/editing mini-lesson tomorrow.

HW: Students write an extended story (finishing what they started in class).

Day 11:

Today we’re going to analyze what scholars wrote, highlight a few exemplars, and review several key writing points before we dive into revising and editing.

Students work on revising/editing while you conduct conferences. Again, note: This set-up and lesson sequence gives you an opportunity to meet with students who were absent the day before and help them get caught up.

Day 12:

Today we’ll examine some PARCC-released student exemplars using this different type of prompt to see how PARCC scores these tasks.

Read the original text so they can see what students were writing about. Note that PARCC items from different years have been scored by different rubrics. Decide which rubric will be most user-friendly, and go with that. See Day 7.

If time permits, have students use the rubric to score (or peer-score) their writing from the day before.

Day 13:

Let’s see where we are with this different prompt. Do your best, so I will know if anyone needs more help with this approach.

Give students a new prompt and passage with no organizer, just a blank sheet of paper and computer. Allow 60 minutes for this (without multiple-choice questions).

You should grade these over the next few days, using the same rubric you used when examining student exemplars yesterday.

Day 14 &ff:

Let’s look at how we did on the first writing prompt.

Hand back graded work with feedback so that students can see how they did. Let them reflect on their work: What did they do well, and what can they improve upon? What would they like more help with?

Use graded student work to review key concepts and support re-teaching.

PPS, as an added bonus for folks who follow this TLC Blog, I’m offering a 50%-off discount subscription to the TLC Website. Click HERE and use the secret discount code, TLCBOOK50. Please note: The code is case-sensitive. If you would like to register friends at this rate, please Email me for a group registration form at sarahtantillo@literacycookbook.com

The more time I spend in classrooms trying to help students write effectively, the more I recognize how detailed and nuanced this process is, especially when it comes to selecting and explaining evidence.

In our joint article, Jamison and I introduced a “Step 2.5” to my original six-step process shared in the first post:

Step 1

Given a list of statements, distinguish the arguments from examples of evidence.

Step 2

Given a list of statements, identify arguments and their relevant evidence.

Step 3

Given arguments, support them with your own relevant evidence and explanation.

Step 4

Given questions, answer them with arguments and relevant evidence and explanation.

Step 5

Generate your own questions that warrant research and debate.

Step 6

Generate your own questions, then research and build arguments supported with evidence and explanation.

In the second post, we concluded:

Students have a tendency to look simply for words or phrases that seem related, and often their quest for evidence is too superficial, which causes them to select evidence that is not helpful.

As part of a new Step 2.5, therefore, we’re teaching students what to rule out – the ineffective evidence. “Ineffective” evidence manifests one of three problems: 1) it opposes the argument, 2) it’s irrelevant, or 3) it’s true but not as relevant.

NOW: Here’s another angle worth considering:

As I’ve noted in the previous posts, effective writers must do the following:

Support arguments with relevant evidence and explanation (“Step 3,” explained here and here)

It turns out that the evaluation process for “Step 2.5” requires more than ruling out inappropriate/irrelevant evidence and selecting something better. Students must recognize that “imperfect” evidence can also be useful if explained properly. And they need to practice such explaining.

To illustrate this point, let’s revisit the example below from this earlier post. This exercise originally required students to evaluate potential evidence, select the best, then write a sentence that would follow logically from that choice.

Example ARGUMENT: Eating too much candy causes stomach aches.

EVIDENCE OPTIONS

Would you use this “evidence”? Why/Why not?

1. One time my brother ate 60 Kit Kats and nothing happened.

NO. It opposes the argument.

2. I like Hershey kisses best.

NO. It’s irrelevant.

3. My sister collected three bags of candy yesterday.

MAYBE: It’s true but not totally relevant. I’d have to explain it.

4. Yesterday I ate 22 Snickers bars and threw up. *

YES. It clearly supports the argument.

Next logical sentence:Obviously, I had overdosed on sugar, and my stomach could not hold so much “content.”

While explaining this model to students, it became apparent that we needed to discuss the importance of considering the “maybe” evidence because you can’t always find “perfect” evidence. If you can explain “imperfect” evidence sufficiently, it can work fine.

With that lesson in mind, we analyzed additional examples and asked students to explain how they could use the “maybe” evidence. Following are two answer keys to support this practice. While going over these examples, we generated the next logical sentence for every “yes” or “maybe.” Here’s the downloadable selecting-and-explaining-evidence-student-copy.

ARGUMENT:Presidential elections can have a dramatic impact on the fate of the country.

EVIDENCE OPTIONS

Would you use this “evidence”? Why/Why not?

1. As Commander-in-Chief, the President has direct and immediate control over the military.

Yes, and I’d have to explain how the President’s decisions about the use of military force could affect citizens.

2. The President has to share power with two other branches of government.

Probably not, unless I had information about how likely the President would be to collaborate with representatives of the other branches of government to exert his/her influence.

3. As chief legislator, the President shapes public policy.

Yes, and I’d want to give some examples of policies the President might pursue.

4. The President’s executive powers are limited by our government’s system of checks and balances.

No, because this runs counter to the argument, as indicated by the word “limited.”

***

ARGUMENT:The Vice President of the United States has an important job.

EVIDENCE OPTIONS

Would you use this “evidence”? Why/Why not?

1. Vice Presidential candidates can sometimes influence how people vote in Presidential elections.

No. Although this statement is true, it doesn’t prove the argument.

2. The only duty the U.S. Constitution assigns the Vice President is to act as presiding officer of the Senate.

Not as written. The word “only” opposes the argument. This information would only be useful if the sentence began with “Although” and described a specific instance in which playing this role resulted in some dramatic result(s).

3. The Vice President is only “a heartbeat away” from becoming the President.

Yes, but I would also want to explain this further—in fact, with the evidence in #4.

4. Thirteen Vice Presidents have gone on to become President, eight because of the death of a President.

See #3.

Ideally, students should practice this approach in every class that requires them to write—so, every class. Effective selection and explanation of evidence is not “just an English class thing.”

What’s next? Take the training wheels off. Leave one row blank and ask students to fill it in with their own evidence and explanation. Then let them write their own paragraph using that evidence and explanation.

To reinforce the idea that we use the Comprehension Process all the time, apply it to an image using the “Quadrant Analysis” approach described here. PS, this is also a great way to stimulate student interest and build background knowledge about a topic they will soon read about.

Review/teach the skill of paraphrasing (the first step in comprehension). For more information, see TLC Blog here. Use the “How to Paraphrase” organizer that applies to your grade (see TLC Website here).

Review/teach 5Ws and H (questioning and answering).

Read a text with students, and model how to ask and answer these questions about the text. Note: Make sure students do not conflate “how” and “why,” which is a common mistake–i.e., we cannot allow them to answer “How” questions with “because.” Example:

How did the character’s appearance change?

Why did the character’s appearance change?

Give students another text, and they apply this skill with a partner. Then they do it alone for homework.

Students should practice using these questions FREQUENTLY. They feed nicely into summarizing because if you can ask and answer 5Ws and H questions about a text, you should be able to pull out key information to support your summary.

Move into PARCC prep mode. Unpacking and paraphrasing the question is a critical first step. For example, before diving into the TLC Blog on how to tackle the Research Writing Task, show students a Research Simulation Task prompt (see “PARCC Research Simulation Writing Prompts” on TLC “PARCC Prep” page). Note that the prompt is NOT WORDED AS A QUESTION, and our first step is to TURN IT INTO A QUESTION. We do this by circling the question word (usually WHY or HOW) and starting our question with that question word. Note: If the prompt does not include “how” or “why,” look for “compare/contrast.” Prompts that use “compare/contrast” should be turned into “how” questions (as illustrated below). For more information on this process, click here.

Examples: [Note: I have underlined the question word(s).]

Original Grade 5 prompt:

Compare how the articles by Lauren Tarshis and Dyan deNapoli and the video describe penguin rescue efforts after oil spills. Support your essay with information from all three sources.

Unpacked Grade 5 prompt:

How do the articles by Lauren Tarshis and Dyan deNapoli and the video describe penguin rescue efforts after oil spills?

***

Original Grade 6 prompt:

You have read two texts and viewed one video that claim that the role of zoos is to protect animals. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the evidence each source uses to support this claim. Be sure to use evidence from all three sources to support your response.

Unpacked Grade 6 prompt:

How does each source use evidence to support the claim that the role of zoos is to protect animals?

It has come to my attention that the PARCC people have been quietly revising the rubrics used to score the writing tasks. I generally read their newsletters, but somehow the one about the rubrics changing must have slipped by.

They made a point-value change for grades 4-5, which I’ve explained below.*

The biggest change is that whereas previously the rubrics for Research Simulation Task and Literary Analysis Task writing included three scoring rows (Reading Comprehension, Written Expression, and Writing Conventions), they have COMBINED the first two rows. Their stated justification for this is as follows:

“ELA/Literacy scoring rubrics are tools for scoring students’ written responses. In July 2015, PARCC states updated the scoring rubrics, combining the reading comprehension and written expression traits. PARCC state educators who called for this update did so because information from the PARCC state spring tests indicated that teachers and scorers would be better able to use the rubrics reliably with the revisions made.

“As in the past, PARCC states’ decisions were a direct result of applying both research results and educator input. Educators working on this update believe the updated rubrics will be more usable, while simultaneously honoring the focus of the CCSS through the integration of reading and writing. Students will continue to receive both a reading and a writing score for their written responses.”[1]

I’m not sure what they mean by the last sentence. How can students receive “both” a reading and a writing score for their written responses if you combine the two into one row? And the other row is for mechanics. So. I can’t explain that.

Regular readers of this blog may have seen my “User-friendly” versions of the original (2014) PARCC rubrics. I’m keeping them available because the language in the newer rubrics has not changed significantly, and I think my versions are still easier to read. Just keep in mind that the rows are no longer as “rowish.” Meaning, the students don’t get scored separately for the separate rows that you see in my versions.

PARCC Writing Rubric for Grades 4-5: grade4-5-ela-literacyscoringrubric-july2015*NOTE: When you compare this to the original rubric, you will notice that the highest score for the original RST and Literary Analysis rubric was 3. Now, it’s 4. But the maximum score for conventions remains 3 (presumably because they didn’t want to weight conventions equally with the other component (the combined reading and writing row). Why does this matter? If you look at the PARCC-released student exemplars, you’ll notice that the highest scores from 2015 models are 3s. That’s because the rubrics only went up to 3 that year.

When writing nonfiction paragraphs or essays, students must frame their quotes (evidence) with appropriate context and explanation. In English teacher speak, we call this “building quote sandwiches.”

This process is often challenging for students.

As I’ve described HERE, students must move through six “Argument vs. Evidence” steps to become effective writers. Once they’ve mastered Step 1 (distinguishing between arguments and evidence), Step 2 (matching arguments with relevant evidence), and Step 2.5 (selecting the BEST relevant evidence, as explained HERE and HERE), they can focus on Step 3, which involves supporting arguments with relevant evidence and explanation.

Ineffective quote sandwiches take several forms. Students select irrelevant/weak evidence, fail to provide sufficient context, or fail to explain how the evidence supports their argument. One of the most common problems we see is what I call the “KFC Double Down Approach.” I’m not sure if they still sell it, but for a while KFC offered sandwiches made without bread. The “buns” were chicken.

In student writing, that more-of-the-same approach looks like this:

Scout seems to act more like a girl every day. “Scout, I’m telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” (57).[1]

Students who write this way are showing us that they do not understand how a quote sandwich should be constructed. They might not understand what “context” means. You could try explaining that concept with “negative space jujitsu,” as I have done HERE. Or they might not see the point of explaining things. You could use my “Mean Mom” skit (described HERE) to demonstrate why they should.

As I’ve explained HERE, the 5Ws and H questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) are critical to effective reading. They are also helpful when building quote sandwiches. As noted in this organizer (using-5ws-and-h-for-context-and-explanation-vertical), answering the first four provides context, and “Why” and “How” are of course a must for explanation.

***

Using 5Ws and H for Context and Explanation

HERE IS A SAMPLE PARAGRAPH about An Island Like You (by Judith Ortiz Cofer) using quotes from the text. In the boxes below, you will see how various sentences address the 5Ws and H questions.

In the beginning of the story, Kenny’s mother makes it clear that she does not respect his friend Harry. When Harry shows up to invite Kenny to his party, Kenny’s mother is “furious” that Harry is in her house (82). She follows Kenny into his room to tell him why he should not be hanging around with such “basura” (82). She says that Harry acts like “the devil, tempting innocent barrio girls and boys with free drugs and easy living until they [are] hooked” (82). She goes on and on about how Harry’s behavior is wrong. She says that people who follow Harry “pay the price” (82). She is clearly worried about how Kenny’s friends will influence him.

What to include

Which part of the analysis is it?

Who

Who said the quote, and to whom?

Kenny’s mother makes it clear [to him] that she does not respect his friend Harry.

Context

What

What is the topic/issue/situation?

Kenny’s mother makes it clear that she does not respect his friend Harry.

Context

When

When in the story does this occur?

When Harry shows up to invite Kenny to his party, Kenny’s mother is “furious” that Harry is in her house (82).

Context

Where

Where are the characters when this moment happens?

She follows Kenny into his room to tell him why he should not be hanging around with such “basura” (82).

Context

Why

Why does this quote matter in the story?

She says that people who follow Harry “pay the price” (82).

Explanation

How

How does this quote support your argument?

She is clearly worried about how Kenny’s friends will influence him.

Explanation

Colleagues in the field who’ve tried this out have also given students practice by providing an argument and evidence, with space for students to insert context and explanation, like this:

ARGUMENT: Atticus convinces Scout not to fight their neighbors.

EVIDENCE:

“This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home” (84-5).

“Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down…. I felt extremely noble for having remembered, and remained extremely noble for three weeks” (85)

CONTEXT: [Leave space for students to complete.]

EXPLANATION: [Leave space for students to complete.]

See what you think. We are still working on the best ways to approach this “quote sandwich” problem. If you have any additional suggestions/solutions, please chime in!

[1] Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (London: Arrow Books, 2010; first published in 1960).

Regardless of how one might feel about the PARCC assessments, they are a reality many of us must confront. To this end, I have some suggestions for how to prepare students efficiently and effectively for the PARCC ELA writing tasks.

“How should we pace the work?” many teachers ask. Test prep should not involve cramming or panic. Nor should it be the primary focus of one’s curriculum, 24/7. Like poetry or short stories, tests are a genre. Students need to be taught how to “read” that genre, and then move on. It does not take forever, for example, to teach students 1) how and why to use process of elimination or 2) how and why to go back into the text to read the sentences before and after “vocabulary in context” words whose meanings they must ascertain.

Preparing students for the PARCC writing tasks requires more time than those quick reminders, but it can be baked into normal reading and writing instruction. English teachers typically begin the year with a focus on narrative reading and writing, then move into literary analysis writing. So it makes sense for them to own the corresponding PARCC writing tasks, as well. But English teachers should not have to carry everything. I strongly recommend that social studies and science teachers own the Research Simulation Task because it mimics the kind of reading and document-based question writing that students typically do in their classes.

Here are some fundamentals for planning units and lessons:

Begin with close reading of texts in the genre. Identify key elements of the genre and analyze texts. The beauty of this approach is that we would do it even if PARCC did not exist.

With the PARCC Narrative Writing Task in mind, read stories/narratives and pull out key elements such as characters, plot, conflict, setting, etc. This work is also useful for the Literary Analysis Task, which involves not one but two pieces of literature. Model how to analyze and explain what the writer is trying to convey. Here are some questions to consider:

For the Research Simulation Task, students should analyze nonfiction texts using social studies and science content that you planned to teach anyway. Begin with strategies for analyzing ONE text before you ask students to compare or synthesize multiple texts.

Here are some scaffolding steps to keep in mind:

Review Argument vs. Evidence Steps 1-3 to ensure that students can identify the argument(s) in texts and can explain how evidence and explanation are used to support that argument.

Step 1. Given a list of statements, distinguish the arguments from examples of evidence.

Step 2. Given a list of statements, identify arguments and their relevant evidence.

Step 3. Given arguments, support them with your own relevant evidence and explanation.

Students must also master Step 4 in order to write their own paragraphs and essays in which they build arguments and support them with robust, relevant evidence and explanation.

Step 4. Given questions, answer them with arguments and relevant evidence and explanation.

Students write UNTIMED examples of the genre. Use the writing process (brainstorm/outline, draft, revise, edit, publish) to create narratives/stories or paragraphs/essays, depending on which genre you are studying. Note: These assignments do not have to be text-responsive. In other words, students can write narratives/stories they have made up out of their heads; they do not have to “extend the story” or “rewrite the story from another point of view” the way they do on the PARCC tests.

Read and analyze PARCC-released models of the genre you’ve been studying and evaluate them with the PARCC Writing Rubric.

Discuss: What does it take to write effective responses on the PARCC?

Analyze the writing prompt(s) and practice unpacking prompts. Students who cannot turn the prompt into a question might answer the wrong question, resulting in a zero. For more information on unpacking the Literary Analysis and Research Writing prompts, click HERE.

Bottom line: The main difference between PARCC writing and our “regular” writing assignments is that the PARCC writing is TIMED. So let’s do what we normally do, but also make sure that students are comfortable with what the PARCC expects.

If you are trying to decide what to teach in the first few weeks of school, I have some advice: No matter what grade or subject you teach, make sure your students know how to paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is the first step on what I like to call The Comprehension Process Staircase.[1]

As this chart indicates, when we’re given a sentence to read, we use our prior knowledge to put that sentence into our own words. For example, if you read, “The man fell down,” you might (very quickly, and without even realizing you’re doing it) turn that into, “He collapsed.” Incidentally, some people think paraphrasing means “simplifying.” It does not. It means “putting something into your own words,” and ideally that means using strong vocabulary. I opted for “collapsed” in this case because at least it was multi-syllabic.

Whether you teach ELA, social studies, science, or even math, your students must be able to paraphrase in order to comprehend the text(s) you place in front of them. If they can’t paraphrase, they will not be able to ask questions about the text or draw inferences from it. And if they can’t draw inferences, they will never arrive at the main idea/argument, which derives from an accumulation of inferences. (For more information on questioning and how it drives inference, see my earlier MiddleWeb post, “The #1 Close Reading Skill.”)

Now, given how important this skill is, it’s stunning how few people actually teach their students how to paraphrase. I think part of the problem is that we assume that humans paraphrase naturally. And indeed, there is some truth to that. As we learn new words, we learn how they work together, and we learn how to unpack them when they are combined. Our instinct is always to try to make sense of what we encounter.

But paraphrasing is not as simple as it might seem. In fact, it requires us to perform three distinct operations:

For now, let’s look at how you can train students how to paraphraseSTRATEGICALLY. One reason that students struggle with paraphrasing is that they are unsure which words to CHANGE vs. which to KEEP. They need a strategy for how to make these decisions.

Here’s one that works—again, no matter what grade or subject you teach:

STEP 1. CIRCLE or BRACKET the words or phrases that you CANNOT or don’t want to change. These words/phrases are crucial to the meaning of the passage and should not be changed because doing so would change that meaning. MNEMONIC HINT: Help students remember what to circle by telling them to “wrap the words you want to keep in protective bubble wrap” and pretend to hug something precious. (PS: I like to introduce this strategy with a discussion about moving, packing, and more specifically, wrapping fragile items.) The words you want to keep or “protect” might include:

▪ Proper nouns (unless they can be replaced by something that does not change their meaning, such as “Obama”= “the President”)

▪ Statistics/specific information

▪ Words that are unique or difficult to find a synonym for

STEP 2: UNDERLINE the words or phrases that you know you CAN change.

That’s it. Here’s an example, using a random sentence from the NY Times:

ORIGINAL: [Jimi Hendrix’s jacket], along with a mesmerizing hoard [of trinkets from rock’s] glory days, [were] stuffed haphazardly into every corner of the shop [until last fall, when rent increases] forced the store to close.

PARAPHRASED: Jimi Hendrix’s jacket and a fascinating collection of trinkets from rock’s heyday were jammed randomly throughout the store until last fall, when rent increases made the owner shut down the business.

I’m spending this week trying to learn more about AP tests (at a conference organized by KIPP, thanks!), and in the AP Language and Composition section, we had a fascinating discussion about the use of SOAPSTONE, an acronym for a type of textual analysis. Some people liked the template we were given, some didn’t. I decided to design my own. Regular readers of this blog will notice that it bears some resemblance to the QIEE Organizer (Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation), a close reading tool which I have blogged about here.

Here is my version: SOAPSTONE Organizer 7-5-16.* I am open to suggestions for how to improve it or complement it. Please feel free to comment!

SOAPSTONE Organizer

Questions

Evidence and Explanation

SPEAKER:

· What does s/he value, and how can you tell?

· What can you infer about the speaker?

OCCASION:

· What situation/event caused this text to be written?

AUDIENCE:

· To whom is the author writing, and how can you tell?

· What can you infer about the audience’s values/beliefs?

PURPOSE:

· What is the author’s goal/reason for writing? Be specific.

· What is his/her argument?

SUBJECT:

· What is the topic of this text?

TONE:

· What is the author’s attitude toward the subject, and how can you tell?

Lately I have become obsessed with the beauty and utility of paragraph responses.

When students are struggling to write clear, coherent essays or aren’t explaining their evidence enough, often what it boils down to is this: they need help in writing stronger paragraphs. Whether you are preparing them for writing on standardized tests, trying to strengthen their fundamental writing skills, or looking for a more meaningful way to assess their reading comprehension, teaching students how to build clear, coherent paragraphs is a good use of everyone’s time.

In previous blogs (most recently here), I’ve discussed six basic steps that move students from “What’s the difference between arguments and evidence?” to “How can I write an effective research paper?” To write an effective paragraph, students need to master the first three steps:

Given a list of statements, distinguish the arguments from examples of evidence. If you can’t tell the difference between “argument” and “evidence,” how can you create an argument? How can you write an effective topic sentence? Without that, you won’t really have a paragraph. Just a list.

Given a list of statements, identify arguments and their relevant evidence. If you can’t find relevant evidence, your “evidence” might not prove your argument and might even disprove it. You could end up proving the opposite of what you intended. (For more on how to teach this step and “Step 2.5,” see here and here.)

Given arguments, support them with your own relevant evidence and explanation. If you can’t explain how your evidence supports your argument, readers will not be able to follow your “logic.” Your paragraph will lack clarity and coherence.

Today we’ll zero in on Step 3. But before we dive fully into paragraph writing, we need to explain why explanation is necessary. Conceptually, students can understand this idea if you provide an example they can relate to. I like to demonstrate with what I call the “Mean Mom” skit. A colleague plays my “Mean Mom,” and the dialogue goes something like this:

Me: Mom, can I go to the movies this weekend?

Mean Mom: No.

Me: But I did all of my chores this week!

Mean Mom: So? You’re supposed to do that.

Here I pause for a meta-moment, to point out that I’ve given her facts and she is not convinced. Let me try a different approach…

Me: Doing my chores shows how responsible I am, and if you let me go to the movies, you know I will represent the family well; also, by doing my chores, I earned my allowance so I can pay for my own ticket!

Mean Mom: Hmmn….

Me: Plus, my friend Sally says if I’m allowed to go, her mom will pick me up and bring me home, so you can have a free night on Saturday!

Mean Mom: What’s Sally’s mom’s number?

I then review what happened: When I offered facts, she was not convinced. When I explained the facts, I won her over. It’s important to add the caveat that just because you explain your ideas, it doesn’t mean you will always get what you want. But you will have a much better chance of persuading your audience if you do.

This skit makes a great mnemonic device, by the way. Weeks later, if you walk past a student who is writing and say, “Oh, so you don’t want to go to the movies this weekend?” that student will know what you mean: You’re not explaining enough.

We can then move on to the “paragraph response” approach, which is simply this: give students topic sentences about whatever they’re reading—a chapter from a novel, an article to build content knowledge, or something else—and they must write the rest of the paragraph, including well-explained evidence. The topic sentence provides a lens through which to read the text, and it guides their annotation.

As with any other skill you’re trying to build, it’s crucial to model it. Here is a sample[1]:

Name________________________Date_________CHAPTER 1

Lord of the Flies Paragraph Responses

DIRECTIONS: For EACH TOPIC SENTENCE given, write a paragraph proving it, citing at least two direct quotes from the chapter. Each paragraph must be 7-10 sentences long (including the topic sentence). Be sure to cite the page numbers properly. See the model. Attach looseleaf if needed. Be sure to read the whole chapter before writing a paragraph.

EXAMPLE:

In the beginning of the story, Kenny’s mother makes it clear that she does not respect his friend Harry. When Harry shows up to invite Kenny to his party, Kenny’s mother is “furious” that Harry is in her house (82). She follows Kenny into his room to tell him why he should not be hanging around with such “basura” (82). She says that Harry acts like “the devil, tempting innocent barrio girls and boys with free drugs and easy living until they [are] hooked” (82). She goes on and on about how Harry’s behavior is wrong. She says that people who follow Harry “pay the price” (82). She is clearly worried about how Kenny’s friends will influence him.[2]

1. In Chapter 1, Piggy, Ralph, and Jack demonstrate leadership in different ways.

In addition to modeling proper MLA format, the example demonstrates how to incorporate quotes seamlessly into an explanation. While it’s important to teach students how to provide sufficient context and explanation for evidence with “quote sandwiches” (explained here and here), we should also push them to write more efficiently. Partial quotes can improve the flow of their writing.

What I love best about the paragraph response approach is that it offers an elegant way for students to practice analytic reading and writing skills at the same time. And PS, it’s quick and easy to grade with this simple scoring checklist: